DickK wrote:Maybe, maybe not. Depends mostly on how you used the images. If you did little or no zoom, then no. Dick

Thanks for the answer. In my case all pictures are "fit to frame" so I guess there is little point in in trying to import the pictures again with full resolution?One argument for resizing is that one can optimize sharpening for the given resolouting and medium. This argument applies at least for printing photos and showing photos on a screen/web. But I'm not sure when it comes to rendering for DVD/BD...But it definitely saves a lot of work to do the the crop and zoom in PSG instead of photoshop. I'll try that next time. Does PSG add any sharpening? I guess no...Regards, Peder

Resizing is questionable at best, especially if you're forcing an interpolation. If done wrong you lose pixels ... something you don't want to lose if you want to keep clarity and sharpness. Sharpening your images might not be a bad idea ... but don't compound the problem if you've introduced artifacts due to your interpolation. It might not look that good. There's generally really not much reason to resize.

If you're cropping to the 16:9 I'd say you're doing a lot of work for little gain. Import the image as is, set the layer to "Fill Frame" and then move the image around on the layer for the view you want onscreen (let the screen/frame do the cropping for you). If you really do need a cropped image, for say a "fit to safe zone" aspect, then use a mask (if you're using PSG then do the masking and/or cropping in an image editor ... don't interpolate/don't resize).

If sharpening is in PSG you can try to use it. I'm not sure if it is. However, my impression is that it's not all that great of a sharpener. There are a variety of techniques you an use in your photo editor esp if it's Photoshop or Photopaint that give you more (and better) sharpening ... and more control over what gets sharpened than anything you can do in PSG/PSP (unsharp mask, high pass, etc) ... or with a sharpening plugin. (and remember, sharpening is a kind of illusion to make you think that image isn't really all that blurred ... it doesn't work with everything, isn't applicable to everything, works best with some types of images and not others ... and can make screwed up images even more screwed up!)

Hi Dick,as a newcomer to ProShow I really enjoyed your messages on this topic. Using maximum resolution will ensure great results even after a fair amount of zooming and cropping. That's what I experienced using other presentation software programs. In order not to use too much computer memory while processing a new show, I convert all RAW and TIFF files to JPEG after "enhancing" images in Photoshop. This keeps my computer running faster at the end of creating a large show.Matthias

I have followed everything said above and am presently reading the PSG manual.Having just moved to PSG from Pictures to Exe I am really confused about the resizing issue. In P2E I would resize to 16:9 format 1920x1080 and for slides where I want to add motion (Pan or zoom) the images would be resized to a higher limit whilst maintaining the 16:9 aspect.Recently I have seen a demo by a long time PSG user whose shows I admire (its his fault I am changing from P2E) and he resized his images in a similar manner to my above description.

Given the basic image is from a RAW file of 65 to 70 MB and a show of, say, 150 to 200 slides, does PSG reduce the size of the final output (in my case an exe file for photo club and competition display) and are you suggesting that to resize as I describe is not the best way to make shows in PSG?

If you want to crop your images to 16:9, there's no problem doing that ... if that's what makes you feel better. You might want to crop within PSG however (ProShow's crop feature is non-destructive).

I KNOW you're not using a RAW image ... but probably a JPG derived from a RAW image. If you're using RAW, I'm assuming then that your image is a 3:2 aspect image (or pretty darned close, given the APS-C sized SLR sensor sizes ... unless you're using the 4-3rds images). There's really no need to crop your images PRIOR to getting them into ProShow. If your images are full screen, then you can move them up or down as appropriate (if the image is 3:2 or 4:3 aspect, its ratio is smaller than the slide aspect. Therefore, a layer (which is what your image is contained on upon import into ProShow) that is scaled using FILL FRAME is normalized along the horizontal (X) axis. If your layer is scaled to FIT TO FRAME, it's normalized along the vertical (Y) Axis. Fill frame scales the layer until the last layer sides reach corresponding slide sides. So, it will fill the screen completely (and there'll be some layer overflow along the top and bottom of the screen for 3:2 and 4:3 layers ... this is the stuff you might be cropping away if you used the cropping feature to crop to 16:9 aspect). For a Fit to Frame scaling, the layer will not fill the screen completely (in general) ... there will exist some space along the slide sides that are open. You'll have to increase the layer zoom to completely fill the screen.

Generally speaking, you don't have to worry about the size of the show unless you're using lots of large sized (many many megabytes) on single slides. The output you chose will determine the size of the final video, generally. You don't want to crop your images prior to importing them into ProShow because you run the risk of doing damage to the image quality. Also, your image quality in the output format is going to vary depending upon what type of output you chose (and there are many). As for the EXE output, what you see is what you get, basically. Your output should be at the highest level possible on your system. You can specify the size of the window for playback, so you might want to determine what size you want to export to (how big a window can they use...). You can also vary the image quality from the best (100% to quite low)... and the same goes for the video quality (the higher the quality, the larger the file size).

Play with the settings until you get something you can live with and which will actually run on your destination system (some systems might not be able to handle the large amount of data an EXE file sends out ... and you'll end up with dropped frames.... just something to keep in mind). Experiment ... see what works for you ... have fun.

Have Fun! There's a lot to learn in ProShow that's NOT obvious ... it's stuff you pick up as you play and gain expertise with the program (and from answers you get from people to whom you pose questions --- like those you find on this forum).